By Alyssa Rosenberg Psychology Today's July/August issue has a fascinating story on mental health, academic competition, and the one-child policy in China. The authors paint a portrait of a cycle where parents, many of whom were stuck in blue-collar jobs or denied chances for advancement by the Cultural Revolution, make incredible sacrifices to educate their children and push them beyond the bounds of reason to succeed so they'll be able to rise into the white-collar workforce. But the Chinese economy is creating 1.6 million college-level jobs each year while producing 4 million university graduates, leading to disappointment and burnout that the mental health system, decimated under Mao, is completely unequpped to handle. The study's timing is apt, coming on top of the news that the girl who sang "Ode to the Motherland" during the Opening Ceremony was lipsynching. The coordinators had decided that her voice wasn't good enough, but the best singer simply wasn't cute enough to put on stage:
